the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, vol. 22, no. 2, Jun. 2022, doi: 10.14434/josotl.v22i2.31308.[5] L. B. Nilson, Specifications Grading: Restoring Rigor, Motivating Students, and Saving Faculty Time, 1st ed. Stylus Publishing, LLC, 2014.[6] E. L. Hackerson et al., “Alternative grading practices in undergraduate STEM education: a scoping review,” Dec. 01, 2024, Springer. doi: 10.1186/s43031-024-00106-8.[7] P. Dillenbourg, Collaborative learning: Cognitive and computational approaches. Elsevier Science, 1999.[8] M. Menekse and M. T. H. Chi, “The role of collaborative interactions versus individual construction on students’ learning of engineering concepts,” European Journal of Engineering Education
Work in Progress (WIP): Fostering Engineering Communities through Collaborative, Student-Led Learning in a First-Year Intro to Engineering CourseAbstractThe progression into undergraduate engineering programs presents significant challenges forfirst-year students, influencing their sense of belonging, motivation, and persistence. This work-in-progress paper investigates the impact of a specific collaborative, student-led educationalsupport within a first-year Introduction to Engineering course at a diverse community college.Students engaged in a 4-week project involving urban air quality prediction using MachineLearning through Python, culminating in the creation of peer-generated educational videosdocumenting their work. This
Paper ID #49821Workshop: First-Year Engineering Forums: Planning & Organizing Idea-SharingSessions with Program Stakeholders to Increase Collaboration and MutuallyBeneficial RelationshipsDr. Cassie Wallwey, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Dr. Cassie Wallwey is a Collegiate Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. Her research interests center on student-centered and inclusive learning practices and principles including student engagement in learning, feedback and assessment, self-regulation of learning, and student motivation. Cassie got her PhD in Engineering
computer systems analyst at the U.S. Department of Energy, where she managed technical projects and collaborated with engineering teams to support energy research. With over 30 years of experience in higher education, Dr. Hensel has taught courses in mathematics, statistics, computer science, engineering, and engineering technology. She has secured more than $6.5 million in funding to advance STEM education research, led major program development initiatives, and held multiple administrative leadership positions. Her contributions have been recognized through numerous awards for excellence in teaching, advising, research, and service.Dr. Atheer Almasri, West Virginia University Dr. Almasri is currently a teaching
Paper ID #49765Full Paper: Improving Educational Equity and Outcomes in a First-YearEngineering Programming Course through a Content and Language IntegratedApproachDr. Saloome Motavas, University of British Columbia, Vancouver Dr. Motavas is a lecturer at the University of British Columbia, teaching in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Vantage College.Fatimah Mahmood, University of British Columbia, Vancouver Fatimah Mahmood is an Associate Director - Curriculum Development in the Department of Lifelong Learning at Simon Fraser University. Previously, she was an English for Academic Purposes (EAP
Paper ID #49796Full Paper: A Framework for Engineering Problem Scoping Leading to MindfulEngineering Problem SolvingCassie Wallwey, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Dr. Cassie Wallwey is a Collegiate Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. Her research interests center on student-centered and inclusive learning practices and principles including student engagement in learning, feedback and assessment, self-regulation of learning, and student motivation. Cassie got her PhD in Engineering Education from Ohio State University and her MS and BS in Biomedical
Paper ID #49783Full paper: Aligning First-Year Engineering Goals with Major SelectionMr. James Nathaniel Newcomer, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Former mechatronics engineer and STEM educator who now works with first-year engineering students to help them establish academic trajectories to develop and meet their career goals.Dr. David Gray, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University David Gray serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. His teaching and research interests focus on interdisciplinary experiential learning, as well as the
-learning-community[9] P. Corey Kiassat and M. Ben-Avie, “Work in Progress: Engineering First-Year Academy to Help Underprepared Students,” presented at the 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Aug. 2022. Accessed: May 15, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://peer.asee.org/work-in-progress-engineering-first-year-academy-to-help-underprepared- students[10]A. L. Gillen, J. R. Grohs, H. M. Matusovich, and G. R. Kirk, “A multiple case study of an interorganizational collaboration: Exploring the first year of an industry partnership focused on middle school engineering education,” J. Eng. Educ., vol. 110, no. 3, pp. 545–571, 2021, doi: 10.1002/jee.20403.[11]B. Graven, P. A. Ralston, and T. Tretter, “First-year
modeling, and collaborative problem solving. Her teaching is grounded in active learning strategies, with a focus on fostering student engagement, professional development, and a strong sense of community within engineering.Dr. Katie Barillas, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Dr. Katie Barillas is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Undergraduate Education Department at Rutgers University and serves as the Program Director for ID3EA (Introduction to Data-Driven Design for Engineering Applications), the foundational first-year course sequence for all engineering students. She holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Lafayette College and both an M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical and Petroleum Engineering from the
course development of a two-course sequence for first-year students centered on hands-on projects, MATLAB programming, 3D modeling, and collaborative problem solving. Her teaching is grounded in active learning strategies, with a focus on fostering student engagement, professional development, and a strong sense of community within engineering.Dr. Philip Reid Brown, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Philip Brown is an Associate Teaching Professor in Undergraduate Education at Rutgers School of Engineering. He has a PhD in Engineering Education from Virginia Tech. He teaches, coordinates and develops curricula focused on engineering design, computer programming and data literacy. He also co-coordinates
a missed opportunity for earlyengagement. In response, we developed an Engineering Photo Scavenger Hunt designed to fosterstudent participation, build community, and introduce essential academic resources. This paperpresents the design and implementation of the scavenger hunt, shares informal observations onits impact, and provides practical insights for adapting the activity to other educational contexts.Scavenger hunts are widely used in engineering education to promote collaborative activelearning by encouraging students to explore, collaborate, and engage meaningfully with theirenvironment. They have been implemented as orientation tools in introductory courses [1], [2],[3], for skills development [4], [5], [6], and to connect course
doctoral program (Baltimore, MD).Terrance I Harris, Drexel University Terrance Harris serves as the inaugural Director of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion for the College of Engineering at Drexel University. Terrance received his bachelor’s degree in business from Western Kentucky University and his master’s degree in Higher Education from the University of North Texas. As director, Harris is responsible for the college’s DEI initiatives supporting and promoting programs, policies, events, and other activities to foster conversations and create a sustainable framework to advance DEI across Drexel Engineering. His role includes chairing the college’s committee on DEI, working collaboratively with Drexel’s Office of
Engineering Fundamentals Program at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and an advocate for expanding the numbers of future engineers through education and community outreach. Laura returned to academia, as a Professor of Practice in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering Department at UTK, after over 25 years of working in locations across the country and raising a family. She held engineering and manufacturing leadership roles with a variety of private and public companies, including President/Owner of a developing children’s discovery museum, which brought outreach programs to underserved populations. Collaborating across communities, industries, and academic disciplines and developing innovative
. Budny, C. Paul, and B. B. Newborg, “Impact of Peer Mentoring on Freshmen Engineering Students,” Journal of STEM Education: Innovations and Research, vol. 11, no. 5, Oct. 2010, [Online]. Available: https://www.jstem.org/jstem/index.php/JSTEM/article/view/1471[9] J. Malm, L. Bryngfors, and L.-L. Mörner, “The potential of Supplemental Instruction in engineering education – helping new students to adjust to and succeed in University studies,” European Journal of Engineering Education, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 347–365, Jul. 2015, doi: 10.1080/03043797.2014.967179.[10] H. Malladi, A. Trauth, J. Enszer, M. G. Headley, and J. Buckley, “Transforming a Large Lecture FYE Course Structure into Virtual Collaborative Learning
demonstration on programming for reading and writing values toand from sensors and motors. A post-survey was conducted to assess students’ engagement and interest inthe workshop through the admissions office. Based on the quantitative assessment of survey data, mostparticipants declared the workshop was extremely interesting. It was not only students but teachers whowere interested in adapting this activity into their curriculum. This collaborative workshop withthe admissions office increased awareness among students and teachers about engineering applications andwhat the institutions have to offer.KeywordsCareer Exploration, Outreach and Engagement, Enrichment, STEM Education, Engineering Workshop,Circuit Analysis, TinkerCad,IntroductionIn today’s
/254035114_I_wish_someone_would've_told_me_Undergraduate_engin eering_students_offer_advice_to_incoming_students/links/0deec5350060fdb94a000000/I- wish-someone-wouldve-told-me-Undergraduate-engineering-students-offer-advice-to- incoming-students.pdf[4] R. K. Ladyshewsky, “The role of peers in feedback processes,” in Feedback in Higher and Professional Education: Understanding and Doing It Well, Abingdon, OX: Routledge, 2013.[5] M. Micari and P. Pazos, “Beyond grades: improving college students’ social-cognitive outcomes in STEM through a collaborative learning environment,” Learn. Environ. Res., vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 123–136, 2021, doi: 10.1007/s10984-020-09325-y.[6] B. Hanks, L. Murphy, B. Simon, R. McCauley, and C. Zander, “CS1 students speak: advice for students by
, and societalimpact [3, 4].Relevant theoretical perspectives further inform this study. Engineering education researchunderscores that early exposure to disciplinary pathways, clear connections to real-worldapplications, and alignment with developing interests are essential for persistence and motivation[1–3]. Lichtenstein et al. [2] observed that students’ decisions are shaped by the perceived fitbetween their values and engineering work, while Jamieson and Lohmann [3] argue thatfostering a culture of relevance strengthens engagement. Felder and Brent [1] highlight theimportance of recognizing diverse learning styles and adopting inclusive instructional practicesin foundational courses. In parallel, student development theory emphasizes the
, team-based projects in engineering education has creatednew challenges for instructors to evaluate and support student engagement. In first-year designcourses, students are expected not only to learn fundamental technical skills, but also to applythem collaboratively in open-ended problem-solving environments. While traditional assessmenttools such as milestone deliverables and final grades offer summative insights into performance,they often fail to identify disengaged or struggling teams until it is too late for effectiveintervention. To address this gap, educators have begun exploring the use of real-time behavioralindicators, such as system usage logs or testing patterns, to inform more responsive teachingstrategies and foster student
-playing exercise empowers faculty, teaching assistants, and students tocreate healthier, more resilient team environments in first-and-second-year engineering courses.This document(https://docs.google.com/document/d/1myqqtZxr72AasRPjhV9o2t0_VJlnc1Jn12Zf5w0Tvp4/edit?tab=t.0) summarizes how to facilitate the role-play activity, provides descriptions of thescenarios, and lays out printable ‘roles’ for groups of four participants. The document alsoprovides a link to a set of facilitation slides.References[1] Henderson, T. “Understanding Access to Learning Opportunities in Collaborative Projects:Gendered Social Hierarchies in Student Teams.” Studies in Engineering Education, Volume: 4Issue: 1, Page/Article: 90–114, 2023. https://seejournal.org
engineering courses, information about trends orcommonalities amongst these courses is not readily available. Improved understanding ofintroductory engineering courses benefits many stakeholders: upper-level engineering instructorsseeking to understand students' prior knowledge and abilities, transfer students needing clarityabout how their credits transfer, engineering departments aimed at recruiting new students andmaintaining accreditation, researchers studying engineering education, and first-year engineeringinstructors strengthening and improving their courses.BackgroundAn introductory engineering course has positive and lasting impacts on students’ attitudes andskills. For example, Sperling et al. found that students had significant gains in
Paper ID #49808GIFTS: Role-playing in Service of Developing Psychological Safety in TeamsProf. Mirna Mattjik, Colorado School of Mines Mirna Mattjik, is Director of the Mines Grand Challenges Scholars Program and Teaching Associate Professor in the Engineering, Design, and Society Department. She is also affiliated with the University Scholars and Honors Program and the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences Department. Her educational background spans industrial technology, international political economy, project management, and leadership. Pursuing her doctorate, her research centers on educational equity in higher
about integrating ethics andengineering inside of technical engineering courses, or engineering education doctoral students.This high-energy workshop will be similar: after a brief orientation to a framework/method thatwe have developed at the Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland CollegePark (STS Postures) [1] [2], smaller groups will leave the classroom to conduct an abridgedversion of activities we have run in an engineering ethics course. Once back in together, we willdebrief to highlight how the STS Postures framework showed up in those activities. Finally,participants will use the framework to design activities for their programs based on their ownlearning outcomes.Our work has emerged from over a decade working with
Paper ID #49828WIP: Building Supportive Campus Communities Through the MakerSpaceInitiativeMr. David Kriesberg, University of Maryland College Park David Kriesberg is a Mechanical Engineer and educator with a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland. He currently serves as the Instructional Fabrication Lab Manager for Terrapin Works at UMD, where he oversees hands-on engineering education and supports student innovation through advanced fabrication resources. In addition to his managerial role, David teaches ENES100: Introduction to Engineering Design and ENME272: Introduction to Computer-Aided
human factors.,” in 14th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience (FYEE) Conference, 2023.[5] L. Albrant, L. C. Ureel II, and L. Albers, “R1 and R2 Collaboration and Exchange: The Journey Towards a Practicum Experience,” in 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, (Montreal, Canada), June 2025.[6] J. Koh, C. Chai, B. Wong, and H.-Y. Hong, Design Thinking for Education: Conceptions and Applications in Teaching and Learning. The Design and Technology Association, 01 2015.[7] M. Santos and M. Soares, Ergonomic Design Thinking -Approaching Ergonomics Through a New Way For Performing Innovation in the Workplace, pp. 560–571. AHFE Conference, 01 2014.[8] M. Benjamin, L. Albrant, M. Jarvie-Eggart, J. Sticklen, L. Brown, and L
retention of engineering students," in Proc. ASEE Annu. Conf. & Expo., Seattle, WA, USA, Jun. 2015, pp. 26–578.[4] E. Atindama, M. Ramsdell, D. P. Wick, S. Mondal, and P. Athavale, "Impact of targeted interventions on success of high-risk engineering students: A focus on historically underrepresented students in STEM," in Front. Educ., vol. 10, p. 1435279, Feb. 2025.[5] K. A. Villanueva, S. A. Brown, N. P. Pitterson, D. S. Hurwitz, and A. Sitomer, "Teaching evaluation practices in engineering programs: Current approaches and usefulness," Int. J. Eng. Educ., vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 1317–1334, 2017.[6] N. K. Mandal, "Importance of student feedback in improving mechanical engineering courses," Int. J. Mech
theability to navigate real-world, open-ended problems using both technical knowledge and creativethinking. National initiatives such as the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges[1] and the ABET student outcomes [2] highlight the need for innovation, teamwork, and theapplication of knowledge in unfamiliar contexts. Meeting these expectations requires intentionalintegration of problem-based learning [3, 4] and opportunities for creative exploration,particularly in the early stages of the engineering curriculum [5].The FIRST organization is a global robotics community that promotes STEM education byhelping students build technical skills, confidence, and resilience. In the FIRST LEGO Leagueprogram (FLL), students work in teams to build
around a collaborative research project, thedeployment of which draws from traditional project-based learning foundations, the overarchingteaching structure differs in a few ways. Project-based learning seeks to improve studentengagement and understanding of class content through active, hands-on product development.[1]. The belief is that students who apply curriculum knowledge through the development of aclass-relevant product will gain a more practical mastery of curriculum information [1, 2].Research-based learning, takes the goal one step further and pushes students to innovate beyondthe current class information and technical knowledgebase [3, 4, 5] The hope is that, as studentsapply research methodology to generate new practical solutions
engineering students in the educational process.” Proceedings of American Society for Engineering Education, 2008.[9] Chapín, H. G., Wiggins, B. L., and Martin-Morris, L.E. “Undergraduate science learners show comparable outcomes whether taught by undergraduate or graduate teaching assistants.” J. of Coll. Sci. Teaching, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 90-99, 2014. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43631962[10] Washer, P. “Designing a system for observation of teaching.” Quality Assurance in Teaching, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 243-250, 2006. DOI 10.1108/09684880610678559[11] McDermott, P. and Simpson, L. Forward in Applied Improvisation: Leading, Collaborating, and Creating Beyond the Theatre. Eds. Dudeck, T. R. &
Teachers of Agricultural Journal. (55) 2, pp. 32-39. Retrieved from http://nactateachers.org/journal.html.[10] L. M. Baker, Q. Settle, C. Chiarelli, T. Irani, “Recruiting Strategically: Increasing Enrollment in Academic Programs of Agriculture,” Journal of Agricultural Education, 54(3), pp. 54-66. DOI: 10.5032/jae.2013.03054.[11] D. Nykanen, R. Bates, M. Hart and M. Rahman, “Developing academic, professional and life skills in undergraduate engineers through an interdisciplinary peer-mentoring support system,” 2010 North Midwest Section, Minnesota State University, Mankato, MN.[12] K. C. Cheong and B. Ong, “An evaluation of the relationship between student engagement, academic achievement, and satisfaction,” in Assessment